It has been quite some time since India's female golf icon Smriti Mehra last won an international event; she attributes that to injuries that resulted in a drop in form.
SHANGHAI: It has been quite some time since India's female golf icon Smriti Mehra last won an international event; she attributes that to injuries that resulted in a drop in form.
Come Thursday, Simi, as she's affectionately called, wants a crack at the title as she tees up for the $300,000 Binhai Open, the flagship tournament on the Ladies Asian Golf Tour (LAGT) here.
Over the last two weeks, she has traversed half the world, coming home to New Delhi from Chicago, then on the flight again to Helsinki, en route Zurich to play in the Finn Air Masters, then back to Chicago and a three-hour drive to where she lives.
Again, she drove back to Chicago, flew back to New Delhi and then Bangalore to play in a sponsor's invite tournament and having completed this, she took a flight to Shanghai to play in the Binhai Open.
"I'm bent on coming to play in Binhai. It's big over here and I want to try and win this. This is the first time I'm in mainland China. I've never been to China other than Hongkong and Macau. I've not won a tournament for quite sometime and I want to take this opportunity to try and win this tournament," she said after a practice round.
"My form wasn't good last month - average I think. In Helsinki, I did not play good either, but I've recovered and am now working hard. I hope this pays off in Binhai."
She said the Binhai course is in splendid shape and it will certainly help her cause to go for a win. "I guess I can do well here. I know I can because when I was out there playing my practice round, I was feeling very comfortable with the course layout and the conditions out there," she said.
A field of 120 golfers will tee-off on Thursday, that include defending champion Na Da-ye of Korea.
In the absence of two-time winner on the 2008 Tour, Pornanong Phatlum of Thailand, the threat to Simi and perhaps Da-ye will come from Chinese Wang Chun and rejuvenated Zhong Xiaolong.
The strong 25-woman Chinese players are also seeking to register a first home win but this dream could only be dashed by India's Simi, and the strong presence of the Korean players.
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